Publication: Tumour Marker Requisition Pattern in a Tertiary Care Centre of Eastern Nepal
Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kathmandu University
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Background
Tumor markers have been a valuable tool for decades to aid in the diagnosis,
treatment, and monitoring of oncological diseases.
Objective
To retrospectively analyze the requisition pattern of tumor marker requests at the
largest tertiary care center in eastern Nepal.
Method
A retrospective hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted to obtain the
data for 5 common tumor markers i.e., Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP), Cancer antigen-
125 (CA-125), Carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9, Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) analyzed in the Department of Biochemistry at B.P.
Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal for 5 years.
Result
A total of 8716 tests for tumor marker was conducted over 5 years. The most common
tumor marker requested at our hospital was Prostate-specific antigen (48.77%)
followed by Cancer antigen-125 (39.02%), Carcinoembryonic antigen (9.30%),
Alpha-Fetoprotein (2.29%), and Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (0.63%) respectively.
The majority of the tumor markers (Alpha-Fetoprotein, Cancer antigen-125,
Carbohydrate antigen 19-9, and Carcinoembryonic antigen) were requested from
in-patient wards while Prostate-specific antigen was majorly requisitioned from the
out-patient department (OPD) [74%] respectively.
Conclusion
The finding from the present study suggest that though Nepal is one of the
developing countries where the specialized health care services are limited only
to cities and developed areas, the burden of oncological disease is high. Dharan is
one of the small cities in the eastern part of Nepal and serves the majority of the
population in the periphery. The number of tumor marker requisitions as per the
laboratory data is significant (n=8716) over a period of 5 years where few tests like
Alpha-Fetoprotein, Carcinoembryonic antigen, and Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 have
just been initiated. Also, the findings delineate that the outpatient departments have
requested more tumor markers which might/ might not be inconsistent with the
preliminary diagnosis.
KEY WORDS
Alpha-Fetoprotein, Antigens, Neoplasm, Carcinoembryonic antigen, Neoplasms,
Tumor markers
Description
Niraula A,1 Gelal B,2 Chaudhari RK,2 Das BKL,2 Lamsal M2
1Department of Clinical Biochemistry
Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital
Institute of Medicine,Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, Nepal
2Department of Biochemistry
B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences
Dharan, Nepal
Keywords
Alpha-Fetoprotein, Antigens, Neoplasm, Carcinoembryonic antigen, Neoplasms, Tumor markers